Bellator 78 This Weekend in Ohio! Welterweights Round 2….

Lyman Good was impressive in his opening tournament match, and he remains the lone English speaker in the Bellator field.

Bellator 78 rolls into the iconic metropolis of Fairborn, Ohio this weekend with a card that features the continuation of their Welterweight tournament. After Bellator 77 went down in the’City of Lights’ Reading, Pennsylvania, I don’t even know how they handle it! In the tournament, Lyman Good takes on Michail Tsarev and Andrey Koreshkov faces Marius Zaromskis. All four men are coming off wins at Bellator 74 last September 28th, and all four men will be ready to go as the tournament pressure ratchets up another notch. The finals are scheduled for before the end of the year.

Another absolutely horrible marketing decision by Bellator, aside from having 75 percent non english speakers in the tournament and for the second show in a row doing the event in small town USA is putting the female between Zoila Gurgel and Casey Noland on the undercard.

Not only is women’s MMA hot right now, but in Gurghel, who holds a Bellator Championship, they have a good talent that they are misusing. Noland is 0-1 in Bellator, and 4-2 overall. Gurghel should take this match if you get a line on it at the sportsbook. The match should have been on the main card.

I must admit, I picked against Bellator veteran Lyman good in the opening round, but he defeated stalwart Brit Jim Wallhead by decision in relatively dominant fashion. His opponent Tsarev is riding an 11 fight win streak, and he won his opening round match by choke in the second round. Tsarev however, probably has not faced anyone with the skills of Good, and is going to be the underdog at the books. At 24-2 overall with close to a 80 percent submission finish percentage, Tsarev might be more dangerous than any fighter Good has beaten.

Andrey Koreshkov brings an undefeated 11-0 record into his second round match with Marius Zaromskis, who is probably the best fighter in the tournament, skill wise. This should be a competitive, rugged fight.

The finals will likely see Zaromskis and Good squaring off, with the winner getting a title shot against Ben Askren, the Bellator Welterweight Champion who has sat out way too long, another mismanagement by Bellator.

About Miguel

MMA matchmaker since 1997. No one besides Joe Silva has made more fights than me.